Laundry clip attacher



Aug. 13, 1935. A. F. HANNEY LAUNDRY CLIP ATTACHER Filed Oct. 10, 1953 4 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR ANGUS F. HANNEZY 96 E TTORNEYS Filed Oct. 10, 1953 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 lllllllllTlll ANGUS M V: E N M m R mH m m C FWM Aug. 13, 1935. 'A. F. HANNEY LAUNDRY CLIP ATTACHER Filed Oct. 10, 1953 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 I INVENTOR ANGUS BY mw ATTOR HANNEIY EYS Aug. 13, 1935. A. F. HANNEY LAUNDRY CLIP ATTACHER 4 Sheet-Sheet 4 Filed Oct. 10, 1933 INVENTOR ATA/GUJ F fiA/V/VZY. BY

7 e W aroma Patented Aug. 13, 1935 UNITED STATES recl ims. (01. 153-1) My invention relates to a laundry marker attacher and, particularly, to apparatus for attaching metallic identification clips to laundry goods. It is the object of my invention to provide a laundry marker attacher somewhat in the'nature of an improvement of the device illustrated, described and claimed in my co-pending application Serial No. 434581, filed March 10,1930, Patent No. 1,951,480, dated March 20, 1934.

The inventiondescribed herein comprises; a, compact apparatus arranged to be set upon a table or the like .and to be operated by a hand lever, the parts of the apparatus being such as to automatically feed single markingblips to a laundering operation.

unused clipsto a magazine.

station where they are openedin amanner to permit a piece of laundry goods to be inserted between the free ends thereof. The parts are so arranged that on another operation of the hand lever the free ends of the marking clip will be permitted to close onthe laundry goods to remain thereon and identify the goods throughout the Another object of my invention is to provide means for positively limiting the opening'of the jaws of the marking clip.

Another object is to improve the mechanism for feeding clips to the work and for returning Another object is to provide interlocking means between the "clip magazine and the attaching mechanism so that the magazine cannot .be removed except when the attaching mechanism is in inoperative position. 7

Various other objects and advantageous features of my invention will be seen in the following description and one embodiment thereof may be seen in the accompanying drawings wherein similar characters of reference designate corresponding parts, and wherein:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation showing the marking clip attaching mechanism in normal unoperated position; Fig. 2 is a view similar to'Fig. .1 but showing the attaching mechanism in an operated position wherein the free ends of a marking clip are in position spread for the insertion of a piece of laundry goods therebetween; Fig. 3 is a plan view of the bottom of a marking clip used with my apparatus; Fig. a is an end view of the clip shown in Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is a plan view of my device, the parts being in operated position; Fig. 6 isa perspective View showing the shuttle or feed bar for conveying clips to the attaching station; Fig. l is a perspective View of the supporton which goods are placed for the attachment of a clip, this support also including means for looking the shuttle against upward movement; Fig. 8 isa perspective View showing the upper jawand associated parts for engaging one free end of the clip; Fig.0 is a perspective view showing stops for limiting movement of the upper free end of .5 a clip, and projections adapted to guide laundry goods into position to receive-a clip; Fig. 10 is a perspective view of the guides for the shuttle;

Fig. 11 is a view partly in section showing'the shuttle receiving a clip from the magazine; Fig. -10 12 is a similar view showing a clip with its jaws held open to receive goods therebetween; Fig. 13 is a similar view showing the shuttle returning an unused clip to the magazine, part of the shuttle being sectioned to show its construction; while Figs. 14 and 15 are secti'ons'along similarly numbered lines of Figs. Hand 12. 7 1 j The apparatus disclosed includes a co pactly arranged mechanism adapted to be placed on a support such as a table and to remove single marking clips from a supply magazine or the like, deliver such clips to an operating station and, while holding one of the legs of the clip stationary, engage the other legto open the clip so that a piece of material such as a laundry article may be inserted therebetween. Then, theoperation of parts of the mechanism may be reversed which will permit the legs to close on the article and the clip to remain thereon as an identifying means throughout. laundry operations. The movements of the upper and lower clip engaging jaws are controlled by cam surfaces so arranged that the lower jaw engages the free end of one leg of a clip and conveys it from'a supply maga zine to an attaching station, and when that movement is practically completed the upper jaw is moved toward the lower jaw to engage the free end of the other leg of the clip. Thereafter the jaws are separatedto open the clip for attachment to laundry goods. Upon reverse move- 40 ment of the cams, the upper jaw is first disengaged from its clip leg and thereafter'the lower jaw is disengaged and returns toward the maga: zine for another clip. e a

In the drawings, the mechanism is embodied in a small, compact devicehaving aframe l5adapt ed to be secured to a support lfi in any suitable manner. 'The' cam I! for controlling-the jaw movements is pivotallysupported at'- l8 on a e bracket I9connected with the frame. Suitable means is provided for oscillating the cam, in this case, the hand-operatedlever ,20 rigidly con nected with cam ll. The cam surfaces 2|, 22, 23 control the lower jaw movement, while sur faces 24, 25, 26 control the. upper jaw-movement.

The lower jaw actuating mechanism comprises a follower 27 adapted to coact with cam surfaces 2!, 22, 23. The follower is carried by a lever 23, which has its lower end pivotally supported at 2s on a frame bracket 36. The upper end of lever 28 slidable engages a slot Si in a shuttle or feedbar 32 so that on moving lever 26 and cam ll forward, cam surfaces 22 and 23 move follower 2? and lever 28 forward, thus causing feed-bar 32 to move forward. The surface 22 causes movement of the feed-bar to its forward position, the arcuate surface 23 serving to retain the bar in its forward position. Return movement of ti e feed-bar rearwardly is caused by cam surface 2! engaging follower 27, as indicated in broken lines on Fig. 2.

This will occur only after considerable movement of cam ll which has an effect on the upper clipengaging jaw later described.

The feed bar, as best seen in Fig. 6, has a central rib 33 and side bars 34 rigid therewith and adapted to slide in grooves in frame it. Strips or gibs 35, (Fig. 10) are suitably secured to the frame in has a projection provided with a raised horizontal surface 39 for supporting one end of the clip, and an upward extension to, for a purpose later described. The lower end of block 38 has a forwardly extending projection ii adapted to enter a com plementary opening in the frame to hold the feed .bar and jaw 31 firmly while a clip is being attached. .This interlocking opening is preferably provided as shown at 42 in a hardened steel plate 43 secured to the frame with a work guide 4% which is adapted to support the lower side of work pre sented to the clip attaching device. The plate 43 and guide A l have suitable openings E5 to accommodate the upper projection of block 38. The two forward projections are provided with oppositely sloping surfaces 39' and i i which nest with complementary surfaces 45 and 42 in steel plate 43 so as to firmlyhold the feed-bar while a clip is opened.

My feed-bar or shuttle is designed so that the working .parts subjected to the most wear are easily removed or replaced. Also ample provision is made for lubricating the movement of side bars 34 in their guides.

To permit the removal of parts of the feed-bar the main portion of rib 33 is made integral with the forward portions 98 of side bars t l. These parts are connected by a narrow portion 9? which is adapted to enter a recess between wings 98 on the forward end of the feed bar and is properly located by a positioning pin 99 extending forwardly from the feed bar. This pin also extends through clip engaging jaw 3i and block 32 and a screw I09 secures all these parts to the main body of the feed bar. The rear end of portion 95 of thecentral rib is held in place by screw lot. The top of the central rib may be suitably grooved as at I82 to accommodate the lower lug 53 of the bottommost clip in the magazine as the feed bar slides thereunder. V

' For lubricating the-feed bar guides the main body of the bar may be drilled as at I93 (Fig. 14) to provide an oil reservoin Openings Hi l at spaced points longitudinally of the bar provides outlets for oil to the top, bottom and sides of the side bars 34. Wicking I05 maybe used in open- .coact with surfaces 2 7., 25, 26 of cam ll.

ings Hi4 to properly regulate the flow of oil. The reservoir may be filled from an upwardly extending passageway I86 at the rear end of the feed bar, which may be closed by a spring-pressed ball valve H31.

Clips are supplied to the feed bar from a magazine 36 supported above the feed bar in a magazine chamber 47 which is secured to the frame. The clips are of the general type shown in inverted position in Figs. 3 and 4 and comprise a wide leg '28 which is uppermost when in use and a narrower lower leg t9 connected at one end by a stiff curved spring portion 59. The upper leg is preferably provided with ward-forming perforations fat for classification purposes. These perforations correspond with a key-bar t6 so that clips are always assembled on the proper bar. Each leg has an opening 52 adjacent an outwardly extending lug 53 which is adapted to be engaged by a jaw for separating the clip legs. The clips are supported in the magazine in a vertical row overlying the central rib 33 of the feed bar. The gibs 35 are cutaway at 54 to permit the magazine to be placed in this manner. The gibs forwardly of this point are provided with inwardly extending flanges at their lower edges, which are adapted to support a clip. The walls of the gibs are spaced to receive the hinge portion 553 of a clip between them. The wide upper leg 58 of the clip will slide along the top surface of one of the gibs. The gibs with their associated flanges thus form a clip guide. The corners of the gibs at the magazine end of this guide are preferably rounded as at 57 to facilitate the entry of a clip into the guide. The top surface of the front end of each gib 35 is cut on an incline as shown at 35 to provide clearance for a piece of laundry goods placed between the legs of an open clip, which in that position is inclined as shown in Fig. 12. 7

When the feed-bar reaches its rearmost position (see Fig. 11) the bottom clip in the magazine drops into depression 36 in the feed bar with its closed end adjacent a shoulder 53 on the rib 33. This shoulder is curved to correspond to the closed end of the clip and to hold the clip down. Jaw 3T enters opening 52 cf the lower clip leg and the free ends of the clip rest upon surface 35%. In this position the clip is carried forward by the feed bar to the attaching station, where the other leg of the clip is engaged by the upper jaw. I

The mechanism for actuating the upper clip engaging jaw comprises a follower 58 adapted to The follower is carried by a lever 68, pivotally supported by a roller bearing at St on the frame it. A tension spring 62 extending between lever 6i! and frame bracket it maintains contact between follower 59 and the coasting cam surfaces. It will be noted that during the first'part of the forward movement of handle 28, no movement of follower 59 takes place as it is in contact with arcuate cam surface 26. Further movement of handlefiil causes cam surface 25 to raise follower 59 and move lever 59 in a clockwise direction. An arm 63 rigid with lever 653 has a slotted connection with a follower 5A which is carried by a crank arm 65 rigid with a shaft 66 which is supported by a roller bearing in a bracket 6? carried by the magazine mounting M. A pair of arms 53 also rigid with shafts 66 are pivotally connected by means of a ball bearing at 69 with a pair of floating arms it],

the other end of arms 19 being joined and pivotallyconnected by a pivot pin H with a pair of levers 12 which in turn are pivot-ally connected' by means of a ball hearing at .13 with brackets 14' mounted on the frame. A block 14' is also pivotally supported on the pin- H intermediate the arms it and carries on its forward face the upper clip engaging jaw 15. Rigid with the arms H! is a stop member 16 whiclrserves to limit the rotation of jaw block 14 in a clockmember '58 has a finger?!) extending'forwardly and downwardly in' positionito guard the jaw 'l5 during the operation of the machine; Rigidly secured to the stop member liiisaplate which serves to limit the separating movement of the jawsin a manner later described and may be i cut away as at St to facilitate the return of unused clips to the magazine in a manner which will be later described.

It will be seen from the above described stru cture that movement'of lever fill in a clockwise direction will move arms 65 and 58 in a counterclockwise direction and thatthe jaw block 14 at the forwardend of armse'iil will be carried forward and downward until the parts approach the position shown in Fig. 2;and thefinal movement of the pivot connection 69 downward will cause a slight upward movement of jaw 15. The

downward and forward movement of jaw 15 thus brought about causes the jaw to engage lug. 53 of the upper leg of a clip and the final upward movement of jaw i5 opens the clip and holds it in the position shown in Fig. 12. The parts will remain in this position as long as desired because follower 58 rests upon the substantially flat cam surface 25 which forms a dwell portion of said cam. To maintain this surface in proper condition a hardened steel plate 96' is detachably secured to cam vl'Las by a screw 91'.

To positively limit the opening movement of the jaws a pair of stop members 82 are secured to the frame in a position to engage the member 86 which, as previously described, is rigidly connected with arms 10 and positively limits the opening movement of jaw 15 moved by the arms 10. At the same time lower jaw-31 is firmly held by engagement of projection 4! in the opening 42 in plate A3. I have combined with the stop members 82 guard members 83 which prevent upward movement of the laundry goods when fedto and fromthe clip attaching mechanism. l

1 For the adjustment of the position of the guard memberls a rearwardly extending leg 84 rigid therewith is provided with an adjusting screw 85 which bears against a boss 85 carried. by

pivot 69.

With the .clip held in the position of Fig. 12,

the operator places the laundry goods between the separated legs of the clip and reverses the movement of operating" handle 20, that is, moves it to the rear or to the right as seen in Figs. 1 and 2. During the first portion of this rearward movement of handle ZG no movement of the lower clip engaging jawtakes place as follower 21 is in contact with'the arcuate surface 23 of its cam, but the upper jaw reverses thev movement above described as follower 59 travels along cam surfaces 26 and- 25 under the tension of spring 62. This causes the upperjaw 15 to move out of contact with the clip, and thereafter cam surface 2| engages follower 21, causing the lower jaw to move back toward the magazine which disengages the lower leg of the clip. It will be noted that the projection 40 at the forward end of the feed bar which engages the free ends of the clip legs is provided with a rounded surface 87 which serves to kick the clip upwardly as the feed bar is retracted, when the clip is attached to a piece of laundry goods.

The operator continues to work the handle 20 backward and forward untilshe has attached clips to the entire bundle of articles ,upon which she is working and in many cases an unused clip will remain at the attaching station with the handle in its forward position when the work on one bundle is completed. It is desirable to return unused clips to the magazine as recordsas to the number of pieces handled are often computed on the basis of clips used. a To this end the feed bar is so constructed that an empty clip will to the magazine the upstanding rib 33 of the feed bar is provided with an upwardly rounded camming surface 83 just back of the shoulder 58.

This surface is formedon the separate block 95 rigid with the forward ends96 of the feed bar in the manner previously described. This camming surface 88 upon forward movement of the feed bar raises the clips in the magazine so that the unused clipis returned thereto without jamming. To insure the return of-unused clips to the magazine I may arrange an interlocking mechanismto prevent removal of the magazine while the clip attaching mechanism is in its forward or operative position. This interlocking mechanism. is shown as comprising a projection 89 on one of the arms 10 which is adapted to enter an opening 90 in the clip magazine when the arms 10 are. in the forward position. Thus the operator is compelled to move the handle rearwardly before removing the magazine and such movement of the handle will return any ususedclipqto the magazine rod. l

Various limiting members are provided on the machine, such as the member 9! which serves to adjust the rearward movement of the feed bar. A stop member 92 on the frame l5 limits the forward movement of the cam 11. A stop member 93 prevents tilting of the magazine dtfor removal from its holder 47 until the magazine has been lifted sufficiently to clear the stop thember93. i i

The frame is provided with suitable openings 94 for the attachment of a cover plate 95 which is not shown in Figs. 1 and 2 for the sake of clearness. v

' Operation of handle 20 closes the clip on the goods and the dry clip attacher.

forward movement of said handle feeds another clip to the attaching position and opens the same. Thus each clip is attached to a piece of laundry fed to the machine. It will be understood that the handle 2c is ordinarily left in its forward operated position when in use, thus an open clip is always in proper position to have the edge of a piece of laundry pushed between the legs 43 and 69 of a clip. Such operation of course will leave the operating handle 29 in a forward operated position when the last piece of laundry in a bundle has been presented to have a clip attached thereto. After this has been done the next obvious thing for the operator to do is to remove the clip holding bar from the clip magazine. To do this, the clip magazine '35 must be lifted vertically until its lower end is above the stop t3 and such lifting of the clip magazine cannot be done until after the handle 28 has been'moved to its rear position as in Figure l, to move the lug S9 to the rear of the notch 98 provided in the clip magazine; therefore it is absolutely necessary for the operator to move the handle to its rear position before the clip magazine can be lifted vertically. From the above'description it will be apparent that I have devised a compact and eiiicient laun- The operator must positively move the operating handle to either of its two positions. The clips are fed to the attaching station without jamming and are opened a predetermined distance. All clips are either attached to laundry goods or returned to the mega zine, which contributes to accurate records.

What I claim is:

1. Apparatus for separating the normally closed free ends of the legs of a marking clip comprising, a feed bar adapted to engage the free end of one leg of a clip and to convey said clip to an attaching station, means for moving the free end of the other legaway from the first-named leg, and means for retaining the portion of the feed bar adjacent said station in fixed position during such movement.

2. Apparatus for separating the normally closed free ends of the legs of a marking clip comprising, a frame, a feed bar reciprocable in the frame, means on the feed bar for engaging one leg of a clip whereby to convey said clip to an attaching station, means for separating the free ends of said legs, and interlocking means on the feed bar and frame adjacent said station for holding said feed bar during the operation of said separating means.

3. Apparatus ior separating the normally closed free ends of the legs of a marking clip comprising,-a frame, a pair of clip-engaging jaws, means for moving one of said jaws to engage one leg of'a clip and to convey said clip to an attaching station, means to engage the other jaw with the other leg of said clip, means for moving said jaws to separate said legs, and a stop member on the frame for positively limiting the separating movement of said jaws.

' 4. Apparatus for separating the normally closed free ends of the legs of a marking clip comprising, a pair of clip engaging jaws, means for engaging each jaw with a free end of one of said legs, means for separating said jaws comprising a cam and follower, and a portion of said cam having a dwell portion arranged to retain said jaws in open position.

5. Apparatus for separating the normally closed free ends of the legs, of a marking clip comprising, means for moving a clip to an attaching station, and manually operable means for moving said clip-moving means away from said attaching station. I

6. Apparatus for separating the normally closed free ends of the legs of a marking clip comprising, a frame, a feed bar reciprocable in the frame, means on the feed bar for engaging one leg of a clip whereby to convey said clip to an attaching station, means for separating the free ends of said legs, a magazine for supplying clips to said feed bar, and an interlock between said magazine and a member operable in timed relation with said feed bar, said interlock being arranged to prevent removal of said magazine when said feed bar has moved a clip to said attaching station.

'7. Apparatus for attaching marking clips to laundry goodscomprising, a feed bar for conveying clips to and from an attaching station, a magazine for supplying clips to said feed bar, and a cam surface on said feed bar adapted to earn the clips in said magazine away from said feed bar when the feed bar moves away from the attaching station. a

8. Apparatus for attaching marking clips to laundry goods comprising, a feed bar for conveying clips to and from an attaching station, said feed bar having a depression for receiving a clip, a magazine for supplying clips to said feed bar, and a cam surface on said feed bar adjacent said depression and adapted to cam the clips in said magazine away from said feed bar when the feed her moves away from the attaching station.

9. Apparatus for separating the normally closed free ends of the legs of a marking clip for attachment to laundry goods comprising, means for conveying clips to an attaching station, means for separating and disclosing the free ends of the clip legs, and stop means adjacent the attaching station for limiting the movement of laundry goods in ,1

the direction of movement of the clip legs.

10. Apparatus for attaching marking clips to laundry goods comprising, a frame, a feed bar reciprocable in the frame, means on said feed bar for engaging and conveying a clip to an attachin station, and means carried by the frame for supporting a clip for sliding movement in the path of said clip engaging means.

11. In a clip attaching apparatus, a feed bar having a central rib, a depression at the forward end of said rib to receive a clip, a separate clip engaging jaw and a clip supporting block at the forward end of said bar, side bars below the rib and extending normally thereto to guide the feed-bar, the forward end of said side bars and central rib forming a separable portion, and means for securing said portion, jaw and block to the feed bar.

12. In a clip attaching apparatus, a feed bar adapted to feed clips from a magazine to a clip attaching station, an oil reservoir in the body of said feed bar, side bars extending from said bar, a guide adapted to coact with said side bars during feeding movement of the feed bar, and oil passageways leading from said reservoir to the surfaces of said side bars.

13. Apparatus for attaching marking clips of the class described to laundry goods, comprising means for conveying clips to an attaching station, a magazine for supplying clips to said conveying means, and means arranged to prevent removal of said magazine when said conveying means has moved to present a clip at said attaching station.

ANGUS F. HANNEY. 

